Bhagavad-gītā 18.49

Explain simply

Speaker: Śrī Kṛṣṇa

असक्तबुद्धिः सर्वत्र जितात्मा विगतस्पृहः ।
नैष्कर्म्यसिद्धिं परमां संन्यासेनाधिगच्छति ॥४९॥

asakta-buddhiḥ sarvatra
jitātmā vigata-spṛhaḥ
naiṣkarmya-siddhiṁ paramāṁ
sannyāsenādhigacchati

Word for word (synonyms)

asakta-buddhiḥ
unattached intelligence
sarvatra
everywhere
jita-ātmā
control of the mind
vigata-spṛhaḥ
without material desires
naiṣkarmya-siddhim
perfection of non-reaction
paramām
supreme
sannyāsena
by the renounced order of life
adhigacchati
attains

Translation

One can obtain the results of renunciation simply by self-control and by becoming unattached to material things and disregarding material enjoyments. That is the highest perfectional stage of renunciation.

Defined in the Gītā

Renunciation

What is real renunciation?

The Supreme Lord said, To give up the results of all activities is called renunciation [tyāga] by the wise. And that state is called the renounced order of life [sannyāsa] by great learned men.

Bhagavad-gītā 18.2

See the definition

Purport

Real renunciation means that one should always think himself part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. Therefore he has no right to enjoy the results of his work. Since he is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, the results of his work must be enjoyed by the Supreme Lord. This is actually Krṣna consciousness. The person acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is really a sannyāsī, one in the renounced order of life. By such mentality, one is satisfied because he is actually acting for the Supreme. Thus he is not attached to anything material; he becomes accustomed to not taking pleasure in anything beyond the transcendental happiness derived from the service of the Lord. A sannyāsī is supposed to be free from the reactions of his past activities, but a person who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness automatically attains this perfection without even accepting the so-called order of renunciation. This state of mind is called yogārūḍha, or the perfectional stage of yoga, as confirmed in the Third Chapter: yas tv ātma-ratir eva syāt. One who is satisfied in himself has no fear of any kind of reaction from his activity.

What this verse teaches

Perfect stage of sannyāsa

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.